Bed rail latch



Dc. l5', 1942. c; H. coLLlNs-v, 2,305,063 BEDRAlLfLAIcH Filedneq: 2s, 195s' .Charle ,..H.Co| I ina INVENTOR.

ATTORNEYS Patented Dec. 15, 1942 lUNITED STATES PATELNT OFICE BEDI RAIL LATCH Charles Hawkins Collins, Houston, Tex. Application December 23, 1939, Serial No. 310,703

1 Claim.

The invention relates to means for connecting a bed rail to the post of the bed. It involves the modication and improvement of the common type of connection between the rail and the post. It is an object of the invention to be able to tighten the bed rail against the post to take up for wear as wear occurs in the use of the bed.

It is a further object of the invention to provide a device so constructed that the take-up for wear may be quickly and easily operated without the necessity of any special tools and in a very short period of time.

It is a further object of the invention to provide a take-up device of this character which is simple in structure and economical to make.

It is a further object of the invention to provide a take-up device of this character which may be positioned centrally of the bed rail so as to connect with the corner post of the bed, thus locating the latch where it is not visible -from the outside and is in a balanced position relative to the rail.

Other objects and advantages of the invention Will become apparent from the description which follows.

Referring to the drawing herewith,

Fig. 1 is a broken side View of a bed rail and post with my invention mounted thereon.

Fig. 2 is a similar View with parts broken away for greater clearness.

Fig. 3 is a broken plan view in section on the line 3 3 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 4 is a transverse section on the line 4-4 of Fig. 2. 4

Fig. 5 is a side View of the latch plate employed with my invention.

In the drawing the bed post is shown broken away at I. The post is provided with a ilattened recess 2 on one side thereof toward the bed rail. Within the ilattened recess 2 are two cross pins 3 which are spaced apart in the usual manner to be engaged by hooks 4 on the latch plate.

'Ihe bed rail 5 is of the usual construction and has on its end adjacent the post a flattened recess 6 within which may be received the latch plate 1.

The structure of the latch plate is shown best in Fig. 5. It is provided with the hooks 4 previously referred to on the end adjacent the bed post. This plate is attached Within the recess 6 in such manner that it may have a limited sliding movement longitudinally of the bed rail` .To accomplish this there are two openings 8 at the upper and lower side thereof, these openings being elongated somewhat axially of the bed rail. Between the two end openings is a central circular opening 9.

When the plate is inserted into the recess 6 in the side rail two dowel pins II, seen best in Fig. 4, are inserted through the elongated openings 8. As seen in the drawing these dowels are set within cylindrical recesses opening on. the side toward the inner side of the rail. On the opposite end of the recess is a smaller opening I2 through which a pin may be inserted to remove the dowel.

The bed rail is formed with an opening I3 extending from the inner side of the rail inwardly to the recess 5. This opening and the openings for the dowel pins are closed by a plate I4. With reference to Figs. l and 2 it will be seen that this plate is preferably of rectangular shape and extends across the openings 8 and 9 to a distance somewhat beyond the same so that screws I5 may be employed to secure the plate in position. Said plate has a threaded opening I 6 therein to receive-a screw I'I. The opening I6 is formed with a marginal projection thereon to increase the thickness of the plate to accommodate the screw I'I.

The screw Il extends into the opening I3 previously noted and has its inner end made pointed at I3 to engage within the opening 9 in the latch plate. As Will be seen in Fig. 3, the pointed end I8 will engage against one side of the opening 9 even when the latch plate is moved inwardly to engage loosely about the cross pins 3 in the post. llf the screw is then rotated to move it inwardly the pointed end I8 of the screw will wedge further into the opening 9 and by engaging the side I9 thereof remote from the bed post will exert a lateral thrust upon the plate and force the bed rail and the post tightly into contact with each other.

With reference to Figs. 1 and 2 it Will be noted that in Fig. l the screw has not been tightened into position and there is a gap indicated at 20 between the bed rail and the post. In Fig. 2 the screw is shown as being tightened inwardly so as to exert a pull upon the latch plate relative to the side rail and bring the rail tightly against the post.

It will be understood that the pointed end I8 of the screw is long enough so that a material amount of slack can be taken up by a short screwing inwardly of the screw so that the bed rail is tightened against the post with only a few turns of the screw. Therefore when further wear occurs so that the bed rail tends to loosen somewhat a further screwing up of the screw Il will again tighten the parts into close relation with each other. By means of this device therefore wear may be continually taken up for a long period of time as the wear occurs. Obviously the diameter of the screw I1 may be varied and the larger the diameter of the screw the greater the take-up may be in the latch plate when the connection between the rail and the post is tightened.

It will be obvious that this device can be easily attached or removed with little diculty and that the invention may be applied to bed posts previously equipped with diierent devices by little change in the whole structure. The device is therefore capable of being applied to bed rails Where the old style of latch plate is employed.

What is claimed is:

A bed post having a flattened recess, spaced rpins transversely of said recess, a bed rail having a recess in its end, a latch plate in said bed rail recess having means thereon to engage said pins and an opening in the central portion of said latch plate remote from said pin engaging means, means to retain said plate in its recess but permitting a limited movement therein, a cover plate on said rail adjacent said latch plate and having a threaded opening therein, said cover plate concealing and maintaining the latch plate retaining means in the bed rail recess, a screw pin in said threaded opening, a conical point on said screw pin projecting into the opening in said latch plate and contacting the side of said opening remote from said post, whereby when said pin is screwed toward said latch plate said point will wedge said latch plate in a direction away from said post to tighten said rail thereon.

CHARLES HAWKINS COLLINS. 

